German economy ministry open to supporting Thyssenkrupp - paper

BERLIN (Reuters) - The German government's "protective umbrella" for businesses is open to struggling conglomerate Thyssenkrupp <TKAG.DE>, which warned on Tuesday it faced a deep quarterly loss, the Rheinische Post newspaper quoted an Economy Ministry spokeswoman as saying.

The steel-to-submarines group said earlier its operating loss could swell to 1 billion euros (879.4 million pounds) in the April to June quarter due to the coronavirus crisis, sending its shares down as much as 13.5%.

In a sign of just how tight the group's financial situation has become, Thyssenkrupp also said it secured a 1 billion euro credit line from German state-owned bank KfW to tide it over until it receives cash from the sale of its elevator division, expected by the end of September.

The ministry spokeswoman told the Rheinische Post: "On the subject of Thyssenkrupp, the same applies as to all companies: We have put up a historical protective umbrella for companies to give them the best possible support during the corona(virus) crisis and to maintain Germany's economic strength."

Chancellor Angela Merkel's government has agreed a stimulus package worth over 750 billion euros to mitigate the impact of the coronavirus outbreak, with the government aiming to take on new debt for the first time since 2013.

(Writing by Paul Carrel; Editing by Lisa Shumaker)